


Hospital Visits

by NephilimEQ



Series: 30 Days of OTP Prompts [4]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, Angst with a Happy Ending, Complete, Fluff, Hospitalization, Hurt Rodney, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, M/M, McShep - Freeform, Miscommunication, Proclamations of love, Rodney McKay Whump, Smut, Worried John, obviously not done in 30 days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 13:00:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17601830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NephilimEQ/pseuds/NephilimEQ
Summary: Rodney has appendicitis...and it's not the easy kind. John, being the good friend that he is, visits him in the infirmary while he's laid up...and learns something that changes the way he sees his best friend.





	Hospital Visits

** Hospital Visits **

John carefully closed the door behind him as he stepped into Rodney’s hospital room. The man had just gotten his appendix out. Actually, it had been an emergency appendectomy. He’d been complaining of cramping, but had dismissed it as indigestion; even when John had gotten worried and suggested he go to Dr. Keller, he’d dismissed it.

Rodney was now under heavy drugs in the infirmary, and was surprisingly coherent. He wasn’t cursing, he wasn’t even flirting with the staff…he was being nice, actually.

“John…John, John, John. How’re you doing?” the scientist asked from his upright position in his hospital bed.

“Shouldn’t I be asking _you_ that?” the older man retorted, moving so that he was right next to him, one hand on the railing.

“Oh, pfshh,” Rodney replied, waving a hand. “They’ve got me on one point eight milligrams of morphine, with a steady saline drip. I’m fine…” He dropped his hand and it landed on top of John’s, his warm dry fingers firmly grasping the soldier’s own calloused ones.

“But, still,” he pressed, “You just had surgery. A whole _organ_ was taken from you.”

Rodney nodded.

“Yeah, true. Isn’t that something?”

Oh, yeah. He was definitely a lightweight when it came to morphine. John absently patted his hand and replied, “Yeah, that sure is something.” He then glanced at the I.V., and then looked around the room, noticing that no one had sent any flowers or ‘Get Well, Soon’ cards. It seemed…empty. He swallowed and asked, “So, uh…how much longer are you stuck here?”, unsure if he would get any proper response.

“Uhh… a week? Two weeks? They weren’t very clear on that part.” He gave him a dopey smile and then added, “I’m really glad you’re my friend, John…”

John nodded, and slowly pulled back from the bed, carefully extricating his fingers from his friend’s.

“Yeah, you, too, Rodney. I’m, uh, gonna go check with Keller, okay?”

“M’kay…”

Slightly worried at how loopy he was, as well as the rather large number of days of recovery that he’d mentioned, he stepped out of the separated room and headed towards the main infirmary, where Dr. Keller was, trying to find out what was going on with his long-time friend.

As soon as he saw her, he tapped her on the shoulder and inquired, “Hey, Jennifer, how long are you keeping McKay hostage here? I thought it was just his appendix.”

She gave him a look over her clipboard, one perfectly arched eyebrow shot in his direction.

“Yes, but it was an emergency appendectomy, Colonel,” she retorted, briskly walking past him into the main room, checking on a patient who lay on the bed with a bandage on their arm. “We had to act quickly because of the situation, which means he has to stay here for about two weeks to recover.”

John gave her a look, and then moved as she reached past him to adjust something on the patient’s monitor.

“But it’s just his _appendix_ ,” he stressed. “Why are you…wait a minute, what do you mean because of the situation? _What_ situation?”

Jennifer turned to look at him and her eyebrow shot up again.

“You do know that his appendix burst, right?”

John faltered, almost tripping as he took a step towards her, and she continued with, “Colonel, when you brought him in, not only had his appendix already burst, but he’d started to develop peritonitis. We got to _that_ in time with some heavy antibiotics, but there were some other…complications.”

She gently tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and lead him to the far side of the room and spoke to him in a hushed tone.

“He developed septicemia. We managed to catch it early, but it’s going to take some time to clear out all of the infection from his blood…”

At this, John’s eyes went wide, and he looked at her in shock.

“Hold up, I’ve heard of this before. That’s when stuff that _isn’t_ supposed to be in the blood, gets _into_ the blood, and then can, you know, infect other parts of the body and pretty much…shut it down, right? Sort of in the… _permanent_ sense of the word?”

Dr. Keller nodded.

“Yep. That’s it exactly. We’re lucky we caught it when we did, but it’s going to take some time to clear it from his system.” She glanced back over her shoulder, keeping an eye on her other patient, and then added, “If everything goes well, then he gets out in two weeks.”

“That long? Really?”

She nodded again, and carefully stated, “Yes. It’ll take at least that long to cycle the infection from his system. We have to be careful because of the antibiotics for the peritonitis that he already has in him.”

John swallowed and then nodded himself.

“Okay, just…you _will_ fix him, right?”

Dr. Keller gave him a faint smile.

“Of course, we will, Colonel. He’ll be fine. It’s just gonna take some time.”

John cast a worried look in the direction of Rodney’s room, and then carefully asked, “Uh, what…what if you don’t get all of it? Aren’t there, like, long-term effects of septicemia? I mean, from what I remember there can be some lingering side effects…”

His voiced trailed off and Dr. Keller gave him a soft look, seeing the genuine concern on the soldier’s face.

“Colonel,” she said, putting a hand on his arm in a reassuring manner, “He shouldn’t have any problems. We caught it in time, and so all that matters right now is, well, _time_. I know that doesn’t sound like much of an answer, but it’s what he needs for the medication to work. Alright? So, he’ll probably be asleep the rest of the day because I’m upping his morphine a bit more. He’s gonna need it.”

He swallowed and nodded.

“Yeah, okay.”

She turned and went back to her patient, while John wavered between wanting to go back in and check on Rodney, versus heading down to the mess hall and getting some lunch. He walked over to the door and carefully poked his head in…and saw that the scientist was fast asleep. Oh, okay, then. Lunch it was.

He got his usual and sat down…but he couldn’t stop thinking about Rodney. He had thought it was just his appendix and not a big deal, but he was fighting off death here. John knew a lot more about septicemia than he had let on with Jennifer. His cousin’s girlfriend had gotten it while in the hospital undergoing a simple surgery when she was eighteen and then had passed away so quickly that it had taken everyone by surprise. He remained calm on the outside, but the fact was that he was absolutely _terrified_ that something was going to go wrong…and he would lose his best friend.

He didn’t think he could see a life without Rodney in it, criticizing him every single step of the way.

He swallowed a bite of his food, didn’t quite taste it, and then came to a firm decision in his head. He grabbed his tray and took it back to the limited selection and put a few of Rodney’s favorites on it. He would make sure he was there every step of the way.

John felt a bit better as he approached Rodney’s room, shouldering his way inside because his hands were full.

When he walked in, he was surprised to see him awake.

“John! Whaddaya doin’ here? Ooh, is that food?” He sat up straighter in bed. “Jello? The blue kind?”

John nodded.

“Yep. Plus, a few of your other favorites. I wasn’t sure if you were going to be up or not,” he admitted as he put the tray to the side of Rodney’s bed. “Don’t tell Jennifer,” he added. “I’m pretty sure that you’re not allowed to have any of this right after you get your appendix removed…”

Rodney leaned over and grabbed at the jello cup, his fingers fumbling with it, and John recognized the signs of being on morphine. Less coordination than usual.

“Here,” he said, putting his fingers over the scientist’s. “Let me help you with that.”

The younger man nodded, and John tried not to think about how warm Rodney’s hands were as he helped him get the jello to his mouth. Instead of complaining, Rodney accepted the help, and John knew that he was _really_ out of it. The man was actually accepting _help_.

Rodney took the spoon between his lips, and John swallowed when he swallowed. He wasn’t used to seeing his friend so helpless. He would never admit it out loud, but Rodney was the smartest man that he’d ever met and was completely in his rights to be as arrogant as he was. Despite all of his numerous personality quirks and horrible social skills, the man was brilliant, and John had the faint idea that he acted the way that he did because he was trying to overcompensate in all the places he felt weak.

He helped Rodney finish off the jello, and then sat back in the chair next to the bed.

“So…you’re stuck here for two weeks. Got any plans for when you get out?”

Rodney hummed and nodded.

Sounding surprisingly coherent, he said crisply, “Well, after picking my lab back up from the shambles it will most likely be in under the inept leadership from Zelenka, yeah. A loooong shower. A very, very, very, _very_ long shower.” He rolled his head on his shoulders and looked over at John. “And a pizza if I can find one. Deep dish. With…pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms…and extra cheese. A _lot_ of extra cheese…”

“Stuffed crust?”

“Mmmm. Yes. That soun’s good.”

His words were already slightly less clear, which made John chuckle, and then he glanced up at his friend’s face and asked, “Do you know what actually happened? I mean, did Keller tell you?”

Rodney absently waved a hand, lifting it from the bed sheet, and replied, “Something about parrots and September, I dunno…it’s all sort of a blur…”

Despite himself, John let out half of a laugh, and then looked back up at him and explained what was going on.

“Peritonitis and septicemia, Rodney. The first one was because your appendix, well, burst inside of you and caused a bit of an infection. They’re treating it with antibiotics and you should be fine in less than a week.” He paused. “Uh, the other one, the septicemia…well, that one’s a bit more serious.” Rodney hummed again. “It’s…an infection in the blood. Jennifer says that’s the one that they’re worried about the most. It could affect your other organs and force your body to shut down. They’re working on fixing it so that doesn’t happen.”

Rodney gave him a faint smile and put his hand on top of John’s, yet again, and patted it a few times.

“I’ll be right as rain,” he said, sounding even more loopy than before. “Jennifer knows what she’s doing, and you won’t let me go, right, John?”

At hearing that, the soldier gritted his back teeth and swallowed, while putting his other hand on top of Rodney’s and gripping it tight.

“Not a chance, McKay,” he replied, giving him a mock glare. “If you die, all you’ll do is haunt me for the rest of my life, and I can’t have that end up happening, right?”

Rodney smiled.

“You’re a good friend.” He then leaned over so that their faces were only a few inches apart, and said conspiratorially, “You, uh…wanna know a secret? I mean, you can’t tell anyone…m’kay?” John nodded, holding in a stupid grin, because he was certain that whatever it was, he could lord it over Rodney for weeks. It was bound to be something even more embarrassing than the fact that his first name was Meredith, and he stayed perfectly still when Rodney leaned in closer, so that his lips brushed against his ear as he whispered, “I’m totally in love with John Sheppard…”

John’s spine stiffened at that. Hold on…what?

He started to pull back, but the scientist’s grip was surprisingly tight on him as he held him with one hand on his shirt, and then added in a stage whisper, “He’s funny and cute and…and _totally_ out of my league, but I really, _really_ like him…promise not to tell anyone, Lorne?”

John nodded, and Rodney fell back onto the bed, his eyes closing almost comically fast. Well…that was awkward.

He slowly pulled away, making sure to stay quiet as he walked out of the room, and back down to his quarters, thinking about what Rodney had just said. He…was in love with him? How had he not realized? It ran around his head for a bit, until it settled as he sat down on the edge of his bed. Dammit. Rodney was…in love with him?

Something still wasn’t quite right in his mind. Rodney didn’t like him that way, he _couldn’t_ like him that way. Rodney couldn’t stand him, despite the fact that they were friends in some odd way. They had bonded in the early days over the oddest things at first: neither of them cared for red jello, and the fact that they both got annoyed when someone interrupted them while they were reading. Later, however, had come the discovery that they both loved comic books, cars, and old, classic films.

John had never originally thought that Rodney was as much as a geek as he was, but he was, and it made him seem more human.

But now…this? He was…in _love_ with him?

He collapsed on his bed and tucked his hands under his head, staring up at the blank ceiling above him. He really should get another poster to put up there. Maybe another Johnny Cash poster. Or, Def Leppard. Yeah, not a bad idea. Rodney liked Def Leppard.

He paused at that thought.

Okay, now this was getting weird. He shook his head, attempting to clear it and sat back up, putting his hands firmly on the edge of his bed.

“Okay,” he said out loud to himself. “So…he loves you. So what? He’s under drugs, it’s probably not even _that_ serious…” Even as he said it, he knew that it didn’t sound convincing, so he continued to talk to himself, trying to figure out what else might be bothering him about Rodney’s confession. Because it was bothering him more than it should.

He paced as he spoke, gesturing with his hands, grateful he was alone so that no one had to witness the slightly weird habit that he’d developed over the years to deal with these sorts of things.

“Rodney just got his appendix out, he’s high on morphine, and right after I bring him some of his favorite food, he forgets who I am and says that he’s in love with me…alright,” John reasoned with himself, “Maybe it’s the fact that I brought the food. A small association of me with something good makes his emotional center overblow the gratitude meter a bit far and instead of saying that I’m a great friend, or that I’m amazing, instead he says he’s in _love_ with me…”

He snorted. It still sounded stupid. No, even under drugs, Dr. Rodney McKay did _not_ say stuff that he didn’t mean. Great, just great. Also…if he didn’t feel anything in return, then why was this bothering him so much?

John sat back on the edge of his bed, his hands over his eyes.

Ugh.

This was getting complicated.

\--

A week (and several stolen lunches) later, John finally got up the nerve to approach him about what had happened. Not that Rodney would remember any of it. Oh, god. He _prayed_ that he didn’t remember any of it. He’d been doped up on the drugs, so he was hedging his bets on the scientist _not_ remembering.

“Heya, McKay,” he said as he sidled into the younger man’s room, sneaking in a chocolate chip cookie from the mess in his jacket pocket. Jennifer hadn’t seemed to notice anything over the past few days, so John figured he wasn’t risking all that much. “I, uh, brought you something special this time…”

He perked up slightly in his bed, looking more coherent than he had in over a week, and sat up.

“Ooh, let me guess…cookie? Chocolate chip?”

John’s brow furrowed.

“How’d you know?”

Rodney rolled his eyes and hitched himself up in the bed, sitting up, and drawled, “Oh, probably because they serve them the second Friday of every month.”

“How do you know what day it is?” John asked, suspicious. Rodney gestured broadly to the calendar on the wall, and John then carefully asked, “They do?”

The scientist gave him a look, and then reached out an expectant hand. John unceremoniously dropped the dessert in his upturned palm, and then tried to hide the smile that wanted to surface when he saw how happy the man was as he bit into it.

“Mmm,” he said around his bite. “Good.” He swallowed and then looked back up at him, an eyebrow arched, and inquired, “Hey, have you been bringing me food all week? I mean, I have some vague recollection of eating cafeteria jello, and a few other things, but I thought they might be hallucinations, so I was just wondering if I was crazy or not?”

John smiled and comfortingly replied, “Yeah, that was me. You’re not crazy, McKay. Well,” he quickly amended, “No more than usual, that is.”

“Ah. Good.”

He took another bite of the cookie, and John noticed that the man was more coherent than he’d been in a long time. Jennifer had probably lessened the morphine dose as he’d healed up. Again, John was hopeful that the higher dosage earlier in the week had muddled Rodney’s mind enough that he didn’t remember his confession. However, a part of him that he didn’t care to look too closely at was also terrified that he’d forgotten his confession…or worse, had never meant it.

Rodney finished the treat and then gave John a look and carefully asked, “Hey, did I…uh…say anything strange while I was drugged?”

His eyes widened slightly, but John bit his tongue and shook his head.

“Nope. Not a thing.”

Rodney let out a relieved sigh, “Good. I mean, you’ve seen my nightmares, so _that_ wouldn’t be anything too new, but…yeah. Glad I didn’t embarrass myself any more than usual,” he added, taking a look over at his monitor, his eyes looking more alert and scanning in that way that John had seen a thousand times before. “Huh, wonder why my dosage was so high earlier this week,” the scientist muttered to himself under his breath, and Sheppard answered with, “The septicemia and peritonitis, Rodney. Remember? I told you about it a few days ago?”

“Oh, uh…no. Sorry. I still have a couple of huge blanks,” he replied, not quite looking his friend in the eye, and then he opened his mouth as if to say more, but they were suddenly interrupted by Dr. Keller pushing aside the curtain and walking into the room.

“Hey, glad to see you awake, mister,” she said with a wide smile, moving her clipboard from under her arm to directly in front of her. “I have a few questions I have to ask you, to know how we should proceed.” She glanced at John and remarked with a smirk, “I’m going to ignore the crumbs on the bed, for now, but don’t think I don’t know that you’ve been smuggling food to him, Colonel.”

He had the decency to look guilty and she shook her head and said, “Don’t worry about it. Now, Rodney,” she turned to him and made a note on the paper in front of her, “What’s your pain level on a scale of one to ten, one being no pain, ten being the most amount of pain?”

Rodney shrugged.

“Eh, about a four.” He picked at his blanket. “I’ve had worse.”

“I’m sure you have,” she replied under her breath, “But that’s not the point.” She then proceeded to ask him several more questions, to which his answers got progressively more and more sarcastic until he suddenly snapped at her, “Look, I _feel_ fine, so could you just release me from this prison and let me at least stay in my quarters for the rest of my internment since I won’t be allowed back in my lab?!”

John grinned, while Jennifer looked slightly taken aback, and he drawled, “Looks like he’s back to normal.”

She gave him a look and then said, “Mentally, maybe, but physically he still has a long way to go.”

“I am _in_ the room,” McKay retorted, glaring pointedly at both of them.

Sheppard gave him a wry smile and replied, “Yeah, we know you are.” Rodney rolled his eyes. “Look, just humor us, okay, McKay? If she says you gotta stay here a bit longer, then you do what she tells you, otherwise, let us do our thing and ignore the fact that you’re even here.”

He snorted, but acquiesced, and Dr. Keller said, looking at both of them, “Well, since your pain level is so low, I’m fine with letting you go back to your quarters. But under _strict_ supervision!” she hastily added, seeing Rodney’s face start to light up. It immediately fell, and she tried to cheer him up with, “Well, if it makes you feel any better, it won’t be _my_ supervision. Considering that Colonel Sheppard, here, seems to have some knowledge on the subject and has already turned himself into your bedside nurse…” John rolled his eyes. “…I’d be fine with him keeping an eye on you for the next three days, or so.”

Rodney looked up at her in consternation, and asked, “Does it have to be him? I mean, no offense, Sheppard, but between the two of you, she almost seems the lesser of two evils, here. You’re not exactly the doctoring type.”

He snapped back, “No offense? Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m gonna take offense! I’m a _great_ nurse!”

Jennifer hid a smile.

Rodney glared at John.

“Oh, please, don’t even _try_ to pretend like you want to do this!” he slid out, rolling his eyes and sitting up a bit more, so that he could more easily level his eyes at his friend. “Despite what others may think, your bedside manner is _barely_ better than mine, and it’s obvious that Jennifer is joking about this whole thing to get a rise out of me!”

He looked back at her for confirmation, expecting a sly grin or a laugh…but stilled when he saw her serious demeanor.

“I mean it, Rodney,” she said firmly, tucking the clipboard under her arm and glaring at both of them. “If you don’t want to be stuck in here for the rest of your stay, then you will have to deal with the Colonel. That is not a joke, it is a fact.” Rodney gaped, and she quickly added, “I have other patients to attend to, so, since you’re almost out of the woods, my firm diagnosis is that you get back to a familiar environment and have a friend keep an eye on you.”

And with that, she turned and left the room, leaving Rodney clearly frustrated and annoyed with both her and John.

“Ugh, this _sucks._ ”

“You’re telling me,” John replied, standing and tapping the younger man on the knee. “I have a job to do, and babysitter isn’t in the description.”

Rodney rolled his eyes right back at him, and then shoved the blankets off his legs and swung them out over the edge of the bed. He then looked down at himself and his hospital gown…and then looked back up at John. The irritation that both of them had felt seconds before immediately dissipated with Rodney looking rather pathetic as he requested, “Uh…you wouldn’t happen to have an extra pair of pants on you, would you Sheppard?”

John snorted.

“No. I don’t.” He turned to the corner of the room and saw a familiar bag on the chair. He tossed it in Rodney’s direction. “But it looks like Keller already knew you’d be leaving today. Your stuff, I’m guessing?”

Rodney glanced through the bag and nodded.

“Yeah. She must have stopped by my room and gotten me a change of clothes.” He let out a low groan as he pulled out a pair of sweatpants. “Sweats? Really? They’re not the least bit flattering on me, and she should know that by now.” The last part of that was mostly muttered to himself, but John couldn’t help but listen as the scientist continued to mutter under his breath. “Why the black shirt? Why not the green one? And _no shoes_? Ugh. Well, this is going to be a fun walk…”

John said nothing, but turned his back to let Rodney have some privacy while he changed, and then suggested over his shoulder, “Want me to walk you back to your room?”

Rodney let out a sound of approval, so John turned back around just in time to see Rodney’s bare shoulders disappearing under a black t-shirt (that was conveniently a size too small) that showed off the blatantly obvious muscles that the doctor had apparently been hiding from him for the past however-long-it-had-been.

John swallowed as Rodney then leaned down to touch his toes, stretching and causing the sweatpants to cling to his surprisingly… _firm_ …backside.

And John also couldn’t help but notice the scientist’s bare feet. He had pretty feet.

Now that just wasn’t fair.

Suddenly, Rodney stood back up and turned to John, bag in hand, and said, “Can we make this quick? The floors in Atlantis are freezing, and it looks like Jennifer is taking some sort of sadistic pleasure in making me walk through this place half-naked.”

John scoffed at that, shoved his hands in his pockets, and shoved the thought of confronting Rodney about his confession to the back of his mind, and then said, as they walked out of the hospital wing, “You’re completely covered, McKay, so stop complaining.”

True to form (and to John’s delight) that brought on even more complaining from the scientist as they walked down the hallway towards the housing section of the main Atlantis compound. It was almost easy to forget that Rodney had been in the hospital with the way he was biting out scathing commentary on the ridiculousness of the medical profession and the fact that it was even _considered_ a science…but then, just as they were about five minutes away from his room, John noticed Rodney’s shortness of breath.

“Hey,” he said, carefully putting a hand on his shoulder, “You alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m…I’m fine…”

John rolled his eyes.

“You’re _totally_ fine,” John sarcastically rebutted. “Here, c’mon, let me help you out,” he said, reaching his arm around and under his shoulders, helping him up. Rodney leaned into him, and John, as he helped him down the hall, for some inexplicable reason asked, “So…you and Keller…what’s up about that?”

Rodney let out a shot of laughter, though it sounded strained.

“Nothing, really, just…lots of flirting.”

“Really? I mean, she packed you a bag and everything…”

The younger man tried to shrug, but not successfully as his movement was limited.

“Eh, yeah, she’s got a card to my room, but not in the way that you’re thinking,” he quickly amended. “She likes to play chess. And I can actually beat her at that game.” He paused, and then added, “Look, she’s sweet and all, but she’s sort of…opinionated?” John snorted, and Rodney rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, pot, kettle, let’s skip the metaphor and jump to the fact that _despite_ the fact that we are good friends and she seems to have a higher tolerance for me than most people besides you, it’s never gonna be anything more because I can’t afford to be in a relationship right now…”

At that, John’s eyebrow shot up, and he carefully asked, “What do you mean by that, exactly? You make it sound like it costs something.”

Rodney snorted this time.

“Yeah, it does. Time and effort, neither of which I can expend.”

Oh. That was good to know. Swallowing down what he wanted to say, he helped Rodney the rest of the way to his room and tried not to pay too much attention as the man fell to his bed with a soft groan, an obvious sound of relief. John headed back to the hallway, but Rodney’s muffled voice stopped him.

“Where you going?”

John pointed at the corridor with his thumb.

“Leaving you alone to sleep. I mean, it’s not like you’re actually gonna to listen to her, anyway, right? No point in me being here…”

Sounding a bit out of it, Rodney softly muttered into his pillow, just loud enough for John to hear, “I wouldn’t mind if you stayed, Sheppard. I could use…” He yawned. “…the company…” And with that, he was out like a light, softly snoring, a little bit of drool already coming from the corner of his mouth.

John lingered in the doorway, trying to decide which would be the lesser of two evils. Leave and save his sanity, but never have permission to stay there again…or stay, and then say or do something so stupid that he would embarrass both him and Rodney beyond all hope of reconciling. He stared at the man as he drooled into his pillow, and a small smile snuck onto the corner of his mouth at the sight.

Something stupid it was.

\--

Sheppard slowly woke up the next morning to a pain in his neck and the feel of something heavy pressing against his back. He was on the floor, so he was immediately on guard at the extra weight on top of him. He was about to reach for his pistol, still in his thigh holster, when a snort and grunt in his ear told him exactly what, or _who_ it was.

Rodney.

Somehow, the scientist had rolled off his bed during the night (or actively had crawled out of it) and was now laying half on top of the soldier as if he was an overgrown body pillow.

John wasn’t complaining, but at the same time, he knew how Rodney would react if he woke up and saw what he’d unconsciously done. Yeah. _This_ was why it had been a bad idea for Sheppard to stay. He mentally rolled his eyes, and then tried to figure out a way to work himself free before the younger man woke up.

He carefully moved his hand from off his side and shifted away, making sure to not jostle him, not wanting to face the equivalent of an awkward morning after between the two of them.

John inwardly crowed at his success as he freed his arm and then carefully rolled the scientist to his side…and he smiled.

Rodney seemed utterly content in his sleep. He didn’t want to wake him up. He _really_ didn’t want to wake him up. He had several reasons not to, the top of which was the fact that if Rodney woke up, John was stuck trying to explain how he’d ended up on the floor with him.

Slowly (painstakingly so), and as _silently_ as possible, he managed to make it to the door and then quickly snuck down the hall, unaware of a pair of hazel eyes following him.

He headed to his room to change clothes.

\--

A few hours later, he walked into the lunchroom, hoping to have a quiet meal on his own as most everyone else had already slipped off to either gate missions or labs for work. He put his tray down and started to settle…but was taken off guard when Dr. Keller suddenly sat down and joined him.

“Colonel Sheppard.”

Her tone was crisp.

“Dr. Keller,” he politely replied, as warmly as possible.

He took a bite of his cornbread and waited for her to say something first. He wanted to eat. He managed to finish about half of his piece, and then she said, “I saw you coming out of Rodney’s room this morning.” John nodded and took another bite. He wasn’t going to acknowledge the obvious.

After an awkward moment, she asked with an odd tone in her voice, “Keeping an eye on him?”

John nodded, swallowed, and answered, “Just as instructed by his doctor,” and then took another bite. He honestly didn’t know what she was getting at; she was the one who had asked him to keep an eye on Rodney in the first place, so what was with her accusing look? He swallowed his bite and took a long sip of his drink, and gave her another look, waiting for her to say something. He honestly didn’t feel as if there was anything _to_ say.

Finally, the doctor stood back up, her chair scraping loudly on the floor, one hand still on the table, and said, “Colonel. I know he has feelings for you.”

John looked up at her, surprised at her bluntness.

“Rodney talks a lot while drugged,” she explained. “And not just to you.” Jennifer then added, “You care for him, John. And, well…so do I.” She paused for a long time, and then finished with, “But…I think you care for him in the right way. Better than I ever could. So, let me give you some advice: take good care of him.”

He nodded.

Keller walked away.

John sunk into his chair and shoved his food away from himself, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. It had felt like a standoff in a Western, and that was what baffled him the most. He’d had no _idea_ that Jennifer felt that deeply for Rodney. He thought it had just been an amenable two-way crush. Well, no _wonder_ she had been so chilly towards him for so long.

Still…just because Rodney had a thing for him, it didn’t mean that he would ever act on it, and John wasn’t exactly the type of person to push his feelings onto someone.

He reluctantly pulled his tray back towards him and took a few bites. Yep. Still hungry.

As soon as he’d finished, however, he made up his mind that he would go and talk to Rodney.

No, he was _not_ going to force his feelings on him, but he needed to know what was going on in that man’s brain, as he was about as dense as a black hole…and the fact that _that_ was the first metaphor that came to his mind, told him that he was spending a bit too much time around the scientist. God, this was going to be difficult. He made his way to Rodney’s room, certain that he was there. Keller had essentially banned him from the lab until he was fully recovered, so his room was his only option.

John slowly approached the room and lifted his hand to knock…and then hesitated and dropped his hand.

He _really_ didn’t want to do this.

So, instead he loitered outside Rodney’s room like a lovestruck teenager for an indeterminable amount of time, torn between wanting to run back down the hall and forget that he’d ever even been there…or pounding on the door until Rodney answered and then pushing the man back into his room and kissing him senseless.

Yeah. Neither option looked all that good. Which was why he felt ridiculous when he finally lifted his hand back up to knock and Rodney’s door suddenly opened.

“Seriously, Sheppard?” the younger scientist snarked at him from where he stood just beyond the doorway, his tablet in hand. “You’ve been out there pacing for, like, fifteen minutes.”

“No more than five, I’m sure,” John replied stepping inside, the ball of nerves in his stomach turning to dust at the familiar, sarcastic tone that he was used to. He felt back on even footing at being insulted, and snapped back with, “What about you? You could have opened the door sooner, you know, and then I wouldn’t have been standing out there…”

Rodney looked up from his tablet.

“I wasn’t sure you actually wanted to come in…”

Okay. Fair point.

“Yeah, well,” John drawled, tucking his hands into his pockets as the scientist turned back to his notes, “Me neither.” He walked over to the bed and sat down, and then asked, “So…how are you feeling? You sleep okay?”

Rodney shrugged, not even bothering to look up from whatever his eyes were glued to, and said absently, “Yeah, I guess. Weird dreams, but that’s to be expected after having been doped to the gills for the past two weeks.” He tapped his finger on the screen. “By the way, were you here last night?”

John nodded.

“Yeah. You said you didn’t want me to leave.”

Rodney snorted.

“Yeah, right. Sure, I did.”

John swallowed and said nothing. The silence stretched for a bit too long…so he finally broke it with, “I wanted to ask you about something you said a couple days ago.”

Shit. No. Why was he saying this? What on earth had possessed him to say _that?_ Wasn’t that exactly what he was trying to _avoid?_

“Doubt I’ll be able to help you out, there, Sheppard,” the younger man absently replied, “I was on some _pret-ty_ heavy drugs. Oh, unless we’re talking about food, because I remember that much. You kept on bringing me food. Jello and cookies, right?”

John nodded.

“Yeah. I did.” He walked past him and sat down on the end of Rodney’s bed, realizing that now that he’d said something about it, he had to follow through. He could _not_ chicken out. After much deliberating, he finally said, “Look, I don’t want to talk about this, but I kind of have to.” McKay looked up. “Earlier in the week,” he started, standing back up, “You sort of…confessed something to me, not really realizing that it was me. You thought I was Lorne.” Rodney’s face paled, and John knew that he immediately understood. “And I want to get it out in the open because things just got a little more complicated and--”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Rodney interrupted him, putting down his tablet. “Please. And, just don’t… _ever_ mention it again. I mean, I understand if you need me to switch teams…bad choice of words,” he muttered to himself as he continued rambling, “But don’t make me stop working here. If you can’t work with me, then, again, I completely understand. I would much rather be able to continue working with you, of course, but if I’ve made things too untenable--”

John cut him off.

“McKay, no, nothing like that! I just…what you said made me sort of… _realize_ a few things.” He left it open-ended, and then more carefully (and inarticulately) added, “I…I sort of, you know…have the same…issue. As you. That you told me. And I kind of want to…do something about it.”

At his stilted, awkward confession, the scientist looked at him and said, “Oh. Okay.”

Not exactly the reaction he was hoping for.

And then Rodney said, in an unsure tone, “Uh, is there anyone in particular you’re…interested in?” Now Sheppard was the one who was confused. “I mean,” Rodney continued, “Lorne is a good choice, if that’s your type, but Ronon’s culture is fairly open, and I’m fairly certain that pretty much no one here in Atlantis would turn you down…”

And as he continued to list off male personnel, it finally occurred to the airman that Rodney had entirely misheard him.

He stepped forward and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder and stopped him with, “No, Rodney, stop!” He did, looking up at him as if he’d done something wrong. John quickly clarified his earlier statement. “I didn’t mean that I wanted you to hook me up with someone! I meant that I…I like you, too!”

Rodney looked up at him in surprise, and then his brow furrowed in confusion.

“What?”

John let out an aggravated sigh.

“Okay, apparently you’re not understanding me,” he said, stepping towards him and putting both hands on his shoulders. “While you were drugged, you told me something personal…”

“Yes, that I’m actually gay!” spouted Rodney, not letting John finish, and the older man tightened his grip on the scientist’s shoulders and snapped, “No!” Rodney looked even more confused, and John quickly amended it with, “Well, _yes_ , technically, but that’s not how you said it! You told me, not _knowing_ it was _me_ who you were talking to, that you’re in love with me!”

Okay, that came out a lot less elegant than he’d meant it to, but at least it looked like Rodney was finally understanding what he was saying.

John then said, more gently, easing up his grip on the younger man’s shoulders, “What I’m trying to say is that I…I feel the same way. Towards you.” God, why was it so hard to get it out? He swallowed and slowly dropped his hands and finally got out, “I love you, too.”

Rodney just stared at him.

Well…this was feeling slightly anti-climactic. And not at _all_ romantic.

Feeling at a loss, Sheppard shoved his hands into his pockets, unsure of where to look, as Rodney stood there looking as if he’d just had a long equation thrown in front of him and he was trying to map it out in his head. Yeah. This might take longer than he thought. He debated going back over to sit on the bed, but just as he was about to come to a decision, Rodney pinned him with a firm look.

Hesitantly, but sounding more sure than before, the scientist asked, “Do…do you mean it?”

John nodded.

“Yeah. I do.”

“How do I know that?” Rodney snapped back, and John let out another aggravated sigh and threw his hands up in the air and responded, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I _said_ so, McKay? God, you’re impossible sometimes, you know that?”

A self-deprecating smile appeared on his lips.

“Yes, it’s been said before.”

John grinned.

“So…you gonna be doing something about it anytime soon?”

“About the fact that you just told me that you love me?”

“Yeah. That.”

He gave John a smile that he’d never seen before, one that lit up his whole face, and, God, did he want to continue seeing that smile for as long as he could. Rodney then closed the distance between them and said, “Are you going to kiss me or what, Sheppard?”

John’s eyebrow shot up. Hell yes, he was going to kiss him.

Feeling a surge of emotion somewhere in his chest, loosening muscles that he hadn’t even realized were tightened, the soldier slid a hand along Rodney’s neck and pulled him in, lining up their lips for a soft, unassuming kiss, and strained to keep himself from simply turning both of them around and pulling him down to the bed. Not yet. They weren’t there, yet.

Oh, now _this_ was nice.

Rodney’s lips were soft, _too_ soft for a man that was so ornery and stubborn, and John couldn’t help but sigh into the kiss, and smile into it as well when he heard Rodney’s low groan. Oh, yeah. This was _very_ nice. They kissed for a while longer, brushing their lips over and over again, until John finally let his tongue snake out and trace Rodney’s lower lip, and he was shocked when the scientist let out a hungry sound and opened his mouth eagerly to his, and what had been soft sparks before was now lightning down his spine, settling into a burning heat _well_ below his waist.

Oh. Okay. This was even better.

Rodney’s hands had wandered during their kissing, and he now had one tugging at the back of John’s waist, pulling him closer, and the other one was lingering at his front, near his belt.

Before John could even register what was happening, too distracted by the lovely kisses that Rodney was now trailing down his neck, the younger man’s fingers had dexterously undone his belt and one hand tugged at the material of his shirt and slid up his back, while the one at the front found its’ way into his boxers and…

John grunted.

And then let out a soft keen of pleasure as firm fingers wrapped around his very hard cock.

“Rod…Rodney,” he managed to gasp out. “I thought we could…ungh…take it…ah…slow…”

He felt him grin against his neck as he traced a tongue up his jugular to his jaw, and then whispered hotly in John’s ear, while his smooth hand gripped him tightly, “We’ve been taking it slow for five years, John. That’s a long enough foreplay, I think,” he added, muttering into his neck, softly nipping at his skin, and, _god,_ that shouldn’t have been so hot.

Rodney’s fingers still held him firmly, stroking up and down, and John could feel the younger man’s hardness pressed up against his thigh, where Rodney was softly rutting up against him for friction.

Fuck.

Trying to gain some control over the situation, he slowly pulled back from Rodney’s hand and slid a hand to his wrist and moved the scientist’s hand back up to his chest. However, Rodney was having none of it, and batted John’s fingers away and pulled back just enough to steer him towards his bed.

“You’re surprisingly pushy,” John grunted as Rodney shoved him to his back on the mattress and stripped off his own pants.

“And you’re surprised by this?” the scientist replied archly as he then tugged John’s pants down his legs with quick, practiced movements, as if he’d removed them a hundred times before. In his dreams, most likely, John mused, as he wrestled with his shirt and pulled it over his head, leaving him in just his boxers on the bed.

John smirked.

“Not really.”

“Good.”

He then pinned him to the bed, his thighs straddling John’s hips, and as he leaned down their’ erections brushed against each other, the thin cotton of each of their’ boxers leaving very little to the imagination. John arched up into it, his body no longer listening to any higher brain function, relying solely on instinct, and Rodney groaned.

“Ah, fuck,” the scientist hissed, pressing into him, the pressure unbelievably wonderful, while John breathlessly gasped beneath him. “God, you’re pretty,” Rodney added, looking down at John’s bare chest and he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, ‘cause that’s what every guy _longs_ to hear, McKay,” he drawled, and Rodney shot him a hard look.

“Oh, I’m sorry, would you rather me shove a paper bag over your head before we do this?” he snarked at the soldier, and then added before John could get in a sarcastic response, “I tend to be pretty damn verbal, in case you haven’t noticed, Sheppard, and it gets even worse in bed, so shut up and learn to take a compliment if you’re not gonna say anything back.”

He then pressed his body down against John’s, and they each let out soft grunts as their mouths reconnected and their cocks brushed up against each other for a second time.

Just like everything else he did, Rodney seemed to put all of his energy into it, even when it was just kissing John, and the older man wasn’t complaining. His lips were soft, but agile, and his tongue was doing marvelous things to the inside of his mouth. Rodney’s hands were wandering, but not lazily, no: they seemed to have a definite trajectory, but they were taking their sweet time getting there, leaving him gasping into the younger man’s mouth with each sweep over a rib and lingering slide on his hip bones. John wasn’t gonna lie…Rodney was _adept._

Through the fog of lust, he managed to pull back just enough to breathe into Rodney’s ear, “You’re a hell of a good kisser, McKay,” and he could feel him grin against the skin of his neck where he’d started to place, wet, suckling kisses.

“So, he _can_ be taught,” he replied enigmatically, and then suddenly slid down John’s front, his hands sliding into the sides of John’s boxers and stripping them down his legs in record time with only marginal help from John, who barely lifted his hips, as he still wasn’t entirely sure if what was happening was real.

At the sight of John’s erection, Rodney let out a soft sigh of contentment, and then wrapped one large, long-fingered hand around it, no hesitation as he gently squeezed the base and then leaned in and licked a long stripe up his cock, from base to hip, forcing a strangled sound from the soldier’s throat. Ah, fuck, but that was good. He hadn’t had anyone touch him like that in years and, dear lord, the fact that it was Rodney was making his head spin.

He looked down when he realized that all the scientist was doing was holding him, and then Rodney smirked up at him.

“I’m about to show you the best way to shut me up, Colonel, so I suggest you pay close attention,” he said…and then suddenly Rodney’s mouth was sliding down over him, hot, tight wetness engulfing his cock in a way that made his balls draw up almost painfully against him. God, no, he would _not_ come that quickly and utterly embarrass himself.

It was as if Rodney knew exactly how to make him squirm, one finger pressing firmly just behind his cock as he steadily sucked on the rest of him, slowly bobbing his mouth up and down, hot and wet and perfect.

Feeling his brain trying to overthink, John quickly shut it up and let himself give into the feeling of Rodney giving him the best blowjob of his life.

He tongued just under the head of his cock, hitting a pressure point that had John’s breath rushing out of him and sending more blood south of his waist. He lightly thrusted into it, and Rodney hummed, the soft vibrations sending John spiraling even further.

Oh, he wasn’t gonna last much longer, that much was certain.

He thought about making him stop, dragging him back up to his lips and see if he could convince him to fuck him…but, god, Rodney was way too good at this, and John wasn’t going to let it go to waste. So, he told his brain to shut up a second time and let himself succumb to the feeling of his best friend’s tongue and mouth bringing him to completion. And enjoy it, he did. Ah, god, but Rodney _really_ knew what he was doing, and soon John was trying with all of his might to not thrust up into the welcoming warmth, desperately holding himself back so that he could continue to enjoy him for as long as he could…

…he did something with his hand. And his tongue.

Shit.

Much sooner than he would have liked, he felt his body tighten and then violently release, Rodney pulling back so that just the tip of John’s cock rested in his mouth, and he delightfully swallowed down every drop, making small, soft noises of contentment, even as his broad fingers held John’s hips firmly against the mattress.

John lay there, trying to catch his breath, and Rodney, looking smug, leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his neck and muttered, “You look even prettier like this, John…”

He didn’t know what to say besides, “Hngh…”

The scientist chuckled and then tucked himself up against the soldier’s side, half on top of him, half on the bed, and his hand wandered aimlessly over John’s chest, tracing lines, and the soft touch slowly brought John back to himself, and he finally managed to get out, “How…how about you?” and he gestured a limp hand at Rodney’s firm erection that dug gently into his hip, but he shook his head.

“Don’t worry about me, that’ll go away on its own,” Rodney said, propping himself up on his forearm, giving John’s body another long look. “This was all about you, for now…” Just as John was about to protest, Rodney cut him off with, “I’ve done this before, you haven’t. I’m giving you time to have your freak out.”

“But I’m not--”

“Not yet,” he interrupted him, stopping the movements of his hand so that his palm rested on John’s heart. “But you will, trust me.” He gave him a wry smile and added, “Just…can it wait until after we have a nap? That kinda took a lot out of me. In case you forgot, I just recovered from surgery, so I could really do with some sleep…”

John snorted and nodded, and said, “Yeah, sure. Sounds good to me.”

Rodney smiled back at him and then pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, and John turned his head, trying to deepen it, but Rodney would have none of it, and pulled back quickly and admonished him with, “Hey, none of that! Sleep. Now.”

John nodded again.

“Yes, sir,” he said primly, and Rodney softly grunted and said, “Hey, save the roleplay for later, colonel,” and tucked himself into John’s side.

John chuckled, but relented, and soon Rodney was fast asleep against him. It took him a bit longer to fall asleep, and as he lay there with Rodney’s head on his shoulder, he thought about how everything had happened so quickly. Rodney had appendicitis, almost died, and then two weeks of pining and one disjointed and anti-climactic love confession later, they were together. Just like that.

Even though the scientist said he would have a freak-out at some point, John was pretty sure that he was wrong.

What was there to freak out about?

He glanced down at Rodney, who snorted and snuffled in his sleep, and then pressed himself closer to him, and he smiled. He wasn’t worried. Hell, it finally felt as if a weight had been dropped from him the instant he’d said the words ‘I love you’, and having Rodney next to him…well, it felt like home.

John put a hand on top of Rodney’s and closed his eyes.

He’d save the freak-out for tomorrow.

 

 


End file.
